


Voice of the Paladin

by Kira_Dattei



Series: The Deva Chronicles Universe [7]
Category: Spartacus Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, American Sign Language, Developing Relationship, Don't Have to Know Canon, Established Relationship, M/M, Mute Nasir, Past Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29571045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kira_Dattei/pseuds/Kira_Dattei
Summary: Core: a kernel of power that grants the person it awakens within abilities.Oni: people who use the abilities they gain from their cores to harm others.Devas: an organization of people who fight the Oni and protect civilians.Agron and Nasir are growing closer, their affinity forming gradually as proof of their love for each other. But they are still working for the Devas and that means they have work to do, apprehending Oni and doing what they can to protect others. When an assignment comes through that has a strong connection to Nasir before he met Spartacus and was living on the street, the relationships he has with everyone he's close to will be tested.Directly follows the events of Burn of the Phoenix
Relationships: Agron & Spartacus, Agron/Nasir, Nasir & Spartacus
Series: The Deva Chronicles Universe [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1216821
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. New

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there everyone!  
> So, this took me a while to write and I actually have what's going to follow it already written but I needed to finish this before posting what comes next. But there are quite a lot of details that happen in this story that need to be established before continuing with the main story arc. And then I got thoroughly distracted by actually doing whumptober and so everything went into writing for The Old Guard.  
> Which, update on the fandoms to be included in the series: The Old Guard will be another fandom to be involved. And, seriously, if you haven't seen The Old Guard, I encourage you to give it a shot. Joe and Nicky have chemistry comparable to Agron and Nasir and they are canonical badasses, just like these guys. There's A LOT more to love about the movie for representation alone and that's not even getting into character and plot and just everything.  
> Okay, I'm done gushing about another fandom. Just like with the other fics, I will be adding a glossary of dispositions to the end note to help people out. And there are references to multiple other fics in the series but it's actually sort of the point that these guys are in the dark about what happened. I'll note details as I hit those chapters for those interested who may not be reading fics of fandoms they aren't familiar with in the series.  
> That's all for now. I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading.

Agron tossed the box he’d brought out from his room into the pile next to the door and then headed toward the living room and flopped down onto the couch with a heavy sigh and a declaration of, “Done!”

There was a quiet pause, long enough that Agron wondered if the others in the house weren’t where he’d thought they were, but then he caught the sounds of footsteps approaching from the kitchen. He turned in that direction as Nasir stepped into view and raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

When he realized it wasn’t genuinely questioning but amused as well, Agron sat up a little and exclaimed, “Don’t give me that look. Yes, I am done.”

Nasir’s hands were moving to sign even before Agron finished and Agron was grateful that he’d gotten better about following along even while distracted over the past three months.

_That’s the last box for your room?_

“Hey, my room is my room. I got the office, exercise room, and storage all taken care of since you all decided to take advantage of the Paladin strength. But we never said anything about requiring the shit in my room to be unpacked to be considered finished.”

Nasir was already smiling in his amusement as Duro’s voice called from the kitchen, “You didn’t, but Nasir and I did.”

When Agron gave Nasir an accusing look, he just shrugged and nodded a quick agreement. He looked entirely too amused by this.

“It’s my shit and my room. I can leave it all boxed up if I want,” Agron shot back. He’d gotten to the point where he had access to all the important shit before deciding to get everything else taken care of and had just left the rest for later. It wasn’t like he was on some deadline to get it all done.

He was sort of liking that he was actually living in a house again and that ended up needing an adjustment period, he’d realized a few days ago. After all, he’d been living in apartments with Duro for years now and hadn’t realized that he’d missed the space of a house until he’d started moving things in and ran out of boxes to bring in before running out of places to put them. He’d just gotten so used to settling for whatever he could get that it was somewhat of a novelty to have more.

He’d just been grateful that Duro had wanted to keep living with him, that he wouldn’t be living on his own and trying to adjust to that at the same time. At least he could have something familiar to help him through.

After all, with the loss of the one affinity he’d had for years and gaining two new ones over the past few months was already giving him plenty of change that he needed to adjust to that any help he got made all the difference.

“Why am I getting all the shit about unpacking my room anyway? Why isn’t Duro on the receiving end of this?” Agron asked Nasir but spoke loud enough that his brother would hear him.

Nasir signed his response as Duro replied from the kitchen, their messages pretty much matching up. “Why get on my case when I’m already finished?” Duro then continued while Nasir just looked amused. “You’re the one dragging your feet. I mean our stuff got here three days ago and you still haven’t gotten everything done? Maybe I’d get it if you were working but you haven’t gotten to that point yet so no excuse.”

Agron rolled his eyes and breathed out one of his silent laughs. “I get a pass since I’m the one who brought most of it into the house.”

“I don’t remember agreeing to that.”

“And the real truth as to why you wanted to keep living with me comes to light. However were you supposed to keep up this level of torturing me without constant exposure?” Agron announced as he leaned his head back against the back of the couch and draped his arm dramatically over his eyes.

“How did you miss that until now?” Duro called back as Agron heard steps approaching him, following the sound of Nasir walking up to him until he felt a hand on his leg. The couch dipped next to him as Nasir sat down. He turned toward the smaller man, who gave him a shrug and a smile.

Fuck, Nasir was gorgeous, Agron couldn’t help but note. He loved it when Nasir smiled like that. It was such a relaxed expression and Agron would probably never get tired of it, especially since being so relaxed and open didn’t really come naturally to Nasir. He always seemed to be holding something back.

Agron reached around Nasir’s shoulders and pulled Nasir against him, the smaller man twisting with the motion so that their chests pressed together with Nasir’s hands braced against Agron while Agron held him around the back, his other hand sliding around the other side of Nasir’s body so he was a bit more securely held.

Agron couldn’t help it: he was a tactile person and he hadn’t really seen Nasir the past few weeks as he’d been looking for a place, getting his old apartment a few cities away packed up, getting everything moved, and then actually moving it all into the new place. Nasir had been helping when he could but he still had his own responsibilities to see to with the Devas.

At least he was spending the night so they could make up some of the time apart.

Nasir tapped his fingers against Agron’s chest, a usual indicator for people who could understand him that he was going to sign something and giving them a chance to look before he started. But with Agron’s arms wrapped around him as they were, he’d have to ease up his grip for Nasir to have any room to sign, even if he just kept to fingerspelling.

Instead, Agron grinned and leaned in close to press his lips against Nasir’s neck, enjoying the gasp he got as he aimed right for the skin right next to Nasir’s pulse that he knew was wonderfully sensitive. He then spoke against Nasir’s skin to get more of a reaction, amused by the slight shiver that passed through the smaller body in his arms. “Consider this revenge for taking Duro’s side in the teasing.”

Nasir nipped at his ear in retaliation, Agron laughing at the attempt before pressing his lips to Nasir’s in an insistent kiss. Nasir thankfully didn’t seem to be genuinely mad and returned the kiss, opening his mouth to Agron’s tongue and his hands clenched at Agron’s shirt to hold on.

Agron had quickly learned that Nasir’s more reserved nature hadn’t meant anything to how much he enjoyed Agron’s touch. In fact, he seemed to be somewhat touch starved. Because as much as he was always welcoming of Agron’s touch, he seemed to be struggling with the concept of being the one to initiate. Agron figured it would just take time and he could be patient as they both settled into this thing between them, this relationship.

Hearing Duro approaching from the kitchen, Agron at least removed his tongue from Nasir’s mouth by the time he was aware of his brother entering the room.

He was already prepared to part from Nasir’s lips when his brother groused, “Ok, we’re gonna need to set some ground rules for this to work for all of us, guys.” His complaint was given in an exaggerated irritation as he crossed his arms and gave them a glare.

Agron let the kiss break and allowed his grip on Nasir to relax a bit, giving Nasir the option to pull away if he wanted. Nasir could be pretty bashful when it came to any displays of affection within sight of others.

And while Nasir didn’t completely pull away, he did ease back, resting his weight on his forearm that he positioned along Agron’s thighs. It might have been uncomfortable if he was any heavier but it was fine with the size difference between them.

Agron gave his brother a mocking smirk. “How about ‘don’t walk into the room if we’re doing something you don’t want to see’. Seems fair enough to me.”

“Your sense of fairness has really turned to shit, Agron. If the P.P.O. could see you now, they’d fire you, you embarrassment to the Paladin disposition.” Duro continued, yelling over his shoulder as he headed back into the kitchen and Agron laughed as he looked back down toward Nasir, who was giving him a stern look even as he was obviously still amused and he started signing with the hand that wasn’t supporting his weight.

_We are not making out in random rooms of the house just to pick on Duro._

Agron grinned and leaned forward to kiss Nasir’s temple, muttering against his skin, “You are no fun sometimes.”

He pulled away and Nasir mouthed a very obvious “sometimes” with his eyebrows lowered to make it a question, then gave him another smile.

Agron wrapped his arms back around Nasir and moved to stand, feeling Nasir’s body tense at first in uncertainty before he slid his feet off the couch so they would be under him as soon as Agron released his hold. He didn’t usually essentially manhandle Nasir around like that since he knew it wouldn’t be appreciated. Nasir didn’t like it when anybody called attention to his height being a bit below average so Agron making a show of being on the tall side on a regular basis really wouldn’t be to his benefit in their relationship remaining on good terms.

He waited until he felt like Nasir was in a good position and then loosened his grip, letting Nasir slide down his chest a bit before letting him go. Nasir had kept a hold of Agron’s shirt and used that to help control his weight to get his feet stably underneath him and then pulled himself upright before giving Agron a tolerant look as he let go, his hands moving almost immediately in sign.

_You’re lucky my lack of a sense of fun doesn’t extend to not being able to tolerate you._

Agron’s hands moved to sign as he replied, not wanting to lose the habit of practicing his own signing at every opportunity just because he’d gotten really fluent by now. “That’s where being sexy as fuck helps out.”

The only time Agron could pull off a line like that was when he was completely joking. Hell, he sucked at figuring out what to say most of the time in general so was it any surprise that he lacked any proficiency at being anything but blunt to a fault even as he’d never really thought about what might make him appealing to someone else, like his looks or body. He was functional.

And he was damn lucky that Nasir didn’t need him to be anything else or they probably never would have made any progress in getting together.

As it was, Nasir rolled his eyes and reached out to give Agron a teasingly placating pat on his bicep before he turned and headed toward the kitchen. He and Duro had been out shopping to fill the kitchen and were throwing together something to eat while they put everything away and Agron hoped them coming out to pick on him like they had meant that they were done. He was plenty hungry and had appreciated them doing that while he’d been moving boxes and shit around.

So he followed behind Nasir, reaching out and resting his forearm casually on Nasir’s shoulder as they walked, just being in contact with the smaller man and more content for the touch. They came around the corner of the dining room and in view of the kitchen, the island separating the two areas. Duro was putting things away in the pantry off to the left of the kitchen, giving the two an acknowledging glance as soon as they were within view before going right back to work.

Agron grinned at the three plates set on the island, each with a sizeable sandwich and a handful of chips on them. Agron leaned down to kiss the back of Nasir’s head as he declared, “You two are amazing. Thanks.” He walked over to the island and took a seat on one of the stools and pulled one of the plates toward himself, not seeing a difference between any of them to indicate being for one of them in particular. Nasir pulled up another stool next to Agron and sat down with another of the plates to eat as well, Duro finishing up what he was doing before joining them, standing on the opposite side of the island, likely to stay in a position where he could see Nasir more clearly. He was still early in getting used to sign language and didn’t get the same focused practice as Agron had gotten in the first days of learning so he still needed a direct line of sight to really understand everything and it had to be the full sign, not the one-handed signs Nasir could get away with using with Agron now.

Agron had just been happy that Duro had decided he wanted to learn. It meant that Duro wanted to be able to communicate with the man his brother had an affinity enough to put in the effort of learning another language. Sure, they’d never shown any contention for each other when Agron and Duro had first been assigned to the mission that had introduced them to Nasir and Spartacus, but it was another matter completely to take steps to build something separate from Agron’s relationship and connection to Nasir, to have a relationship of their own.

Agron figured both Duro and Nasir needed all the good relationships they could get, even if it was for different reasons.

For Nasir, he was so closed off that for him to find more people he could rightfully trust would be a step in the right direction for him finding the value of having people he could open up to.

As for Duro, with the destruction of his core and the loss of the affinity he’d had with Agron, he was recovering from a variety of trauma and the more people he had that he could have supporting him through that the better.

Agron was about halfway done with his sandwich when Duro spoke up next. “I know you turned in your application to the Devas but have you heard anything about it since?”

“I didn’t turn in an application to the Devas. I turned an application into Spartacus so he can figure out what to do with me. It’s not like I could just turn it in as Nasir’s affinity partner with him officially not a user and working there under his own special circumstances.”

He looked over to Nasir, who started signing as soon as both brothers were looking toward him.

_Spartacus thinks that just pushing your application through to become an official Deva is the best way to go._

Agron frowned at that. He hadn’t talked to Nasir or Spartacus about his application since he’d handed it to the Deva so he hadn’t heard that this was what Spartacus had in mind for him.

“If I wanted to just be a Deva, I would have turned my paperwork in at the front desk,” Agron groused. “If he did that, I’d be an Initiate, obligated to two years.”

Duro cut in then, speaking pointedly to Nasir. “It’s why he never applied to the Devas and stuck with the P.P.O. He didn’t want to get stuck somewhere because of someone saying he had to.”

Agron tossed a chip at his brother with a glare. “That’s not what it was about. I don’t care that there are time requirements for progression in the Devas; there’s something like that in any position of law enforcement or military. What bugs me is that the two years everyone has to stay with the Devas. It’s the only requirement like that in any organization, no matter that they call it a trade for training. The U.E.A. doesn’t have anything like that and they do just as much training.”

“Yeah, yeah, regs without an explanation acceptable to you.”

Agron rolled his eyes as he leaned back enough to cross his arms. He hated how easy it was for Duro to irritate him sometimes. In this case, it was irritating because Duro wasn’t necessarily wrong. He couldn’t say what exactly it was that bugged him about the two-year commitment Devas required other than there just wasn’t anything else like that rule anywhere else in an organization that was strict as fuck. It took a lot to be exempted from fulfilling the time, like practically suddenly being on a deathbed to even consider asking for it. It had just always given him a bad feeling.

And, yeah, plenty of people made the point that the Protection of the Paladins Organization had some pretty extreme requirements for all Paladins and Valkyries, no matter if they were actually using their core regularly like Agron and Duro had been, but Agron had always been able to see the point. Paladins and Valkyries were as dangerous to themselves as they were to anyone who got on their bad side and the regular contact with the organization helped improve their safety. Those were also two of the very few dispositions that only formed within the first seven years of a person’s life. They didn’t form at just any point in a person’s life. That made it easier to establish the organization and pass the requirements in a way that made sense to the world. And considering what the dispositions allowed the person to be capable of, no one minded them being trained and being available as a sort of line of defense even if they were civilians.

He was distracted from his thoughts by Nasir starting to sign something and he had to focus on that.

_Spartacus said that you will likely be able to bypass that requirement since you’ve spent longer than that active with the P.P.O. You have a good record of assignments against the Oni and that does matter to the Devas. You’ll need to talk to Spartacus about the specifics, but that may at least help you be less apprehensive about the option._

Duro was frowning in a way that indicated that he hadn’t caught everything of that. Nasir noticing the expression, went about repeating it in a manner similar to what he’d done when teaching Agron, having Duro let him know what he didn’t understand and using fingerspelling to teach the sign, then repeating the entire message again.

It gave Agron a minute to think it over and he decided that he’d try to hold out a final answer for when he talked to Spartacus, like they were planning to do the next day. He figured if that was how they could go about placing him where he would be with Nasir, that was the priority.

Nasir was finishing up his final repeat of what he’d signed and Agron watched passively as he ate a bit more of his sandwich.

Right. Being with his affinity partner, the man he’d come to love so deeply so quickly, was the point. Everything else was just icing, pointless details.

“What about you?” Agron asked his brother when Nasir’s hands went still again and Duro didn’t seem like he was going to carry on that topic any longer.

It was another topic that they’d been sort of avoiding, right there alongside Duro’s destroyed core and how both of the brothers were still suffering effects of their affinity being destroyed along with one of the cores that connected them.

But they needed to start figuring things out. Sure, the P.P.O. had helped out in getting the place they’d found in the same neighborhood as Spartacus and Sura’s house as a thanks to both Agron and Duro for their years of service as well as a way to stay in Agron’s good graces in case they ever needed to ask him for a favor. And the Devas would help with housing as well if Agron became one. But Duro needed to get back out there, find something new to direct his focus to. Three months without having something like that was getting to him, Agron knew. What he didn’t know was if Duro even knew of anything else he’d be interested in. He’d been happy to work with Agron for the past few years since graduating high school. That wasn’t an option, though. He had to keep his distance from the P.P.O. so no one figured out he’d done the impossible and survived a core destruction. Once that was discovered, it would only be a matter of time before someone either tracked it back to Nasir saving him or Nasir would step forward himself to get Duro out of the spotlight.

Duro seemed surprised by Agron asking. “I don’t know. I figured I shouldn’t get into anything too time consuming. I want to be available when something comes up with Hajime and the task force against him.”

Agron was at a loss for words for a reply to that for a good minute. And Duro went on eating his lunch like he hadn’t said anything worth getting stunned over.

Nasir’s hand rested on Agron’s thigh and he looked at the smaller man, seeing the questioning look in his eyes. Did even Nasir not get why this was a big deal to hear?

Agron pulled himself together to ask, “What about the task force?”

“Did I miss something and nobody told me they’d got him already?” Duro asked sarcastically.

“Why do you think you should hear about its status one way or another?” Agron bit back, his patience all but vanishing.

“Are you being stupid on purpose?” Duro asked, Nasir’s hands moving in sign even before he finished.

_Try civilized conversation. You might be surprised by how much more is accomplished._

As soon as he was finished, his right hand returned to Agron’s thigh, likely trying to help him keep some of his composure with the contact. Agron always seemed to be able to hold his temper in just a little bit better when he was in contact with Nasir. He wondered if it was something to do with his Paladin core and their affinity being a romantic one. After all, it was his first affinity like that and he just knew that there were different kinds of affinities based on what manner of love was felt between the people.

It could also have nothing to do with their affinity and was just how he responded to Nasir.

Duro let out a frustrated sigh as he ran his hands through his hair roughly, scratching at the back of his head afterward. “You know there’s nothing that says I can’t still help out against Hajime. I seem to remember Derek and Stiles saying that it was set up to allow anyone they thought could hack it to be involved.”

“And that was before you weren’t a Valkyrie anymore.”

“Lucky for me I _was_ a Valkyrie.” Duro stood up a bit straighter and looked about as smug as he could get. Agron was aware that it had been a while since he’d seen that expression on his brother. “You gotta admit it’s one of the more convenient dispositions to have lost and still retain some usefulness it had provided. Unlike the Paladins, I had to learn all the fighting that comes so naturally to you. That didn’t go away because the core is gone. I can still fight just like I did before.”

“Not like you did before,” Agron corrected.

Duro rolled his eyes. “Fine, not exactly like before, but still good enough to not get cut out. Hell, if Nasir can tell everyone he isn’t a user and be let into the Devas when he’s really got a core, I should be able to work with you guys and not catch shit for not being a user.”

“That’s not how that works,” Agron exclaimed as Nasir signed something but Agron wasn’t looking directly enough to see what had been signed.

Duro looked frustrated again. “Okay, first of all, don’t talk over each other like that. It’s really fucking confusing and hard to follow. And second, could you guys at least get on the same page with this so I don’t need to figure out who I should argue with more?”

Agron turned an irritated look toward Nasir, who gave a one-sided shrug once he caught the look.

_We aren’t the ones who get to say if he’s allowed to be involved in the task force against Hajime. That is for Derek and Stiles to decide. Possibly Spartacus if they decide to give him command over the East coast like they discussed because of his Deva rank._

Agron let out an irritated groan as he stood, grabbing his plate to toss the remaining chips into the trash and then set it in the sink a lot gentler than he wanted. As he left the kitchen he ground out, “Figures I wouldn’t get any backing on this one. I’m talking to Spartacus about it. If he says you can’t do it, that’s that.”

“Fine! Asshole!” Duro called back to him but he didn’t sound like he thought the conversation would go any more in Agron’s favor than this one had.

Agron wondered if his brother had already talked to Spartacus. Or maybe he’d stayed in touch with Derek or Stiles. Stiles would be more likely since the two had gotten along pretty well while they’d been working the assignment together.

As much as he’d made a big deal out of leaving his room half-packed up, Agron’s irritation meant he got started right away on putting the rest of his clothes away and breaking down empty boxes. Noting that Nasir had followed him a few minutes after he’d left the kitchen, he took in a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down.

He had to be focused to talk to Nasir. He couldn’t just ramble off on him or not pay attention and wait for the smaller man to speak his mind like Duro did. He had to rein himself in or they’d be taking quick steps backwards in the progress of their relationship. And with how much they’d struggled to make any progress, Agron couldn’t let that happen.

Neither one of them trusted easy but they wanted to trust each other unquestionably. Agron couldn’t do that if he didn’t let Nasir be heard when he couldn’t talk.

Nasir was leaning against the wall next to the door of Agron’s room when Agron finally felt like he could actually listen. When green eyes locked with dark brown, Agron felt like he wasn’t struggling anymore to focus on the man.

“You get it?” he asked, his voice low as his emotions started ping ponging all over the place.

Nasir’s hands lifted in preparation to start signing but then hesitated as he seemed to second-guess what he’d been about to say. And while Agron knew that Nasir was the kind of person to carefully consider what he said at all times, it was hard to not get the thought that Nasir was figuring out how to spare saying something he knew Agron wouldn’t want to hear. That was dismissed easily enough as Nasir did start signing a few seconds later.

_I’m not sure I do understand. Yes, I understand you being worried about his safety but that’s all. It seems as though you’re avoiding the fact that he may be more ready to get back into the fight than you are._

Agron let out a sigh and sat down on the bed heavily. “You know, I do actually fucking hate it that you can pick things out like that so easily.”

Nasir was too good at reading people and then putting into words what he observed. Sure, it had been a skill he’d developed for the sake of survival, needing to know with a glance who was dangerous to him, but it made it feel like Agron was at a permanent disadvantage as he struggled to figure himself out.

He made sure he looked back towards Nasir to give him a chance to respond.

_So does Spartacus. Less now than before I lived with him but he has still said as much._

Nasir lifted a corner of his lips briefly and Agron gave a short laugh.

Answering an urge, Agron held out a hand in invitation to Nasir, who stood up from the wall and crossed the room to stand between Agron’s parted legs, his arms draping casually over Agron’s broad shoulders before he leaned forward and touched their foreheads together in a familiar position that helped to calm both of them.

Agron absently wondered if anything he felt when touching like this would be there when they finally actually had sex. Because that hadn’t happened yet and while Agron wasn’t in a hurry to get there with Nasir, he’d be lying if he said it was easy to take things at the slow pace Nasir seemed to be needing.

“I miss the days he just listened to me, let me be the big brother who knew what was best.” Nasir’s squeezed him briefly in a comforting hug. “You know, if he did fight and he died, I wouldn’t feel it like I did when his core was destroyed. I could have no idea my brother was dead. That’s just fucked up.”

Nasir moved his forehead away to press a quick kiss to Agron’s temple before he went back to the same position. Then, he let his right hand to drop down from Agron’s shoulder and rested it over Agron's heart. It took a second and the thrumming of his core reaching out for the one he had an affinity with to realize that’s what Nasir had been going for, to get a response from Agron’s core, to have it reach for him as their cores were still in the early stages of their affinity solidifying.

Agron lifted his own right hand and slid it up Nasir’s left arm, feeling for the slight bursts of power that the new design of the seal allowed to bleed through to be allowed to form affinities, then let his hand grip into the smaller man’s shirt sleeve when he found it just above the elbow.

They stood there like that for a few minutes, silent and still until Agron realized that Nasir wasn’t just doing something to touch him.

“Ok, yeah, I got the message,” Agron muttered and felt Nasir nod slightly against him so they didn’t break contact.

Just because Agron’s affinity with Duro was gone didn’t change the fact that he was a Paladin and Duro was his brother. If something happened to Duro, Agron would know.

He seriously hoped that nothing would prove that right or wrong. He was running low on how much shit he could handle at the moment.


	2. Could

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agron has some conversations about what comes next...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the chapter. ^_^

Agron walked into the familiar Deva facility, pulling out his ID and handing it over to the woman working the front counter and then reaching under the collar of his shirt to pull out and display the pendant that identified him as a Paladin, used to the procedure for entering the facility. “Hey, Kore,” he greeted politely. He’d seen her enough over the past few months that it didn’t feel like a hassle to exchange pleasantries. She was a nice woman, just like the other front desk worker he’d met, Laeta. Bur he also knew that anyone who worked that position was deceptively powerful as they were the first line of defense against a threat coming to the Deva’s doorstep.

For example, Naevia had told him that Kore was a Plague who specialized in crashing someone’s nervous system.

Agron was happy to never see her in action. Plagues were intimidating enough as it was without _that_ being a specialty.

Kore gave him a smile as she checked his ID for his number to log into her computer as he signed in. “Hi, Agron. Talyn mentioned that you were going to be stopping by today. Meeting with Spartacus?" she said casually.

“Yeah, seeing what he came up with to do with me.” She had been the one to get him the application forms so she knew he’d been in the process. Also, when she put in his ID number, it would have shown that he wasn’t working on assignment from the P.P.O. so it had been a matter of convenience to include it in small talk between them. “They let you in on the secret?” he asked jokingly.

Kore leaned back in her chair and gave him an amused look. “How dare you! You know perfectly well that I took this position to be kept out of the loop.”

Agron gave her a wide grin. “Well, yeah, but I figured you had to go through moments of weakness of just needing to get in on the rumor mill. And what better to scratch that curiosity itch than with something mundane like grand plans for me?”

Kore laughed at that even as she reached for her headset, sliding it with practiced ease into place as she dialed her phone. “Master Arios, Agron Rasch is here. Do you want me to escort him up?” There was a short pause as Spartacus responded. “Yes, sir. I’ll tell him.” She hung up and turned her focus back to Agron. “He’s going to have Talyn come down and take care of the escort.”

Agron grinned as he slid his identification back into his wallet and took a step away from the desk. “Damn, I guess he’s onto your grand scheme of how you get away from working. Now what are you gonna do to escape such monotony?”

“Well, I can always call on the Oni I’ve got on retainer to make their grand move against the facility, make me flex my Plague muscles to get a boost to my reputation.” She’d made that joke before one time with another of the reception workers when they were changing over while Agron was entering with Spartacus. Actually, Agron was pretty sure Spartacus entering at the time was the reason they’d made the comment when they did with how much of a lack of response he’d given. Agron figured it was just a running joke around the place.

“Just wait until I’m not here. I’d hate to ruin your moment by accident just because I’m not used to staying out of anything to do with Oni. And I’d really hate getting on your bad side for some simple mistake like that. I mean, me getting on your shit list has gotta be something damn worth the trouble my health would be in from that moment on.”

Kore typed something into the computer, likely finishing the log of him entering the building, then gave him another amused look. “You spend your time with Spartacus and Talyn and you’re intimidated by sweet, little me?” she teased.

Agron heard the elevator doors open beyond the safety glass that separated the lobby from the rest of the building and saw Nasir step out. “Yes. Your reputation is strong in this place.”

“Good to know.” Nasir stepped up to the access door and scanned his Deva ID to release the lock, Kore glancing over at the sound to confirm who it was since Nasir couldn’t tell her. “You know, you can tell Spartacus to hold up the process just a little with him, Talyn. I’d hate to start missing out on our chats just because he doesn’t have to sign in.”

Nasir gave a shrug and fingerspelled out his response, Kore having learned at least the alphabet in sign language at some point. And while communicating only through being able to spell things out was tedious on Nasir’s part, it was better than nothing as it was still someone else adjusting to his language and he’d told Agron that he appreciated Kore very much for the gesture, making sure he conversed with her regularly to show it. And because of that, Nasir could actually fingerspell pretty quickly with Kore and she would follow along just fine.

_M-a-k-e. H-i-m. A-n-y-w-a-y._

“Colleges call that ‘hazing’,” Agron muttered.

“And isn’t college supposed to get you ready for the world?” Kore shot back without missing a beat.

“Never went to college.”

Kore looked pointedly at Nasir. “And he still expects to survive the workforce? Poor child.”

Nasir breathed out a quick laugh before nodding to Agron to follow him into the building. Agron called back to Kore before they reached the elevators, “See ya on my way out. Don’t fry any nervous systems while I’m not looking.”

“Only if they don’t ask for it!” Kore called back as the two stepped onto the elevator.

Once the doors closed, Agron cupped his hand to the back of Nasir’s head, disappointed as he usually was that it was all up in a ponytail high at the back of Nasir’s head as it usually was when he was “on the clock”. Agron had just gotten really used to it being only half braided with the bottom half loose and hanging down around Nasir’s shoulders in a way Agron loved to play with. He’d never been one much for longer hair but the dark, thick, soft strands of Nasir’s hair was addictive to have his hands in, he’d realized.

Or it was just because it was Nasir’s hair, Agron allowed himself to acknowledge.

He leaned down and kissed Nasir’s temple, just needing to greet Nasir with some sort of intimacy. Nasir didn’t seem to mind either, his expression softening in a way it usually didn’t when he was at the Deva office.

“Hey,” he greeted.

Nasir reached up and squeezed at Agron’s forearm, a return of the greeting.

“Anything interesting happen today?”

Nasir shook his head enough for Agron to feel the motion but not enough that he would move away.

“You know, you could have stayed the night and I would have dropped you off here this morning.”

Nasir gave a slight shrug.

“So why didn’t you?”

Nasir’s hands finally moved in front of him to prepare to sign, Agron turning so he could see the message while he left his cheek resting against Nasir’s head just for the contact, using the reflection of the elevator doors to his advantage.

_You didn’t ask. I don’t just sleep somewhere I haven’t been invited to._

Agron had to admit that was a good point even as he was aware that he’d been worried about pushing things by asking. He’d sort of been hoping that Nasir would ask if he could stay rather than Agron needing to offer. At least if Nasir took the lead on this, Agron would know where their boundaries were.

He really was just stumbling his way through this relationship and he was starting to wonder if there was a limit to how much he could stumble without hurting something between them.

_We’ll work it out. You and Duro just moved in. Let there be an adjustment period before you get anxious about it._

Agron nodded as he stood up straight, letting his arms fall away just before the elevator doors opened and Nasir stepped ahead to lead them down the hall toward Spartacus’ office. He knocked on the door twice before walking in and Agron closed the door behind them and crossed the room to take a seat in one of the chairs on the side of the desk opposite Spartacus. The Deva was typing something on his computer, a few files of paperwork spread out to his left and Agron wondered what he was working on.

“Hey, Agron,” Spartacus greeted distractedly. “Just finishing this up and we can get things worked out for you. How are you and Duro doing in the new place?”

“Fine. I’m still not used to being in a house, though. I kept waking up. We just got so used to functional apartments over the past few years.”

Spartacus smiled toward his computer screen. “I remember the feeling. Before I got engaged to Sura and we moved into the house, I was in an apartment. It took a while for me to get used to the quiet of there not being other tenets making noise at any hour of the day. But you’ll get used to it, settle in.” Spartacus gave Agron a quick glance before he added, “Actually being able to spend time there and not being on assignments more days out of the month than home will help as well.”

Agron grinned. “Now _that_ is what’s really going to take time getting used to.”

Spartacus gave another amused smile before he pushed away from the computer and turned his full attention to Agron. “Well, you won’t be bored, but since we’re for the most part local, you’ll at least be able to go home when you wrap things up with an assignment.”

Agron’s attitude shifted to become more serious and focused. It was time to work. “Talyn mentioned something about you wanting to put my application in as a Deva?” Using Nasir’s pseudonym while in the Deva facility, regardless of being behind secure doors, was automatic for Agron by now, intent on protecting his affinity partner in every way.

Spartacus’ eyes glanced briefly over to Nasir before returning to Agron. “With the goal to be you working with Talyn, it’s really the best option. He mentioned this morning that you were opposed to the minimum requirement of time spent as a Deva?”

“Yeah, it’s why I didn’t just apply before and have stuck with the P.P.O.”

“The primary reasons the two-year requirement is enforced is a trade to the training provided and it allows us to monitor the people we trained, ensure they don’t do anything questionable with what they learned. But as an experienced Paladin, trained and with an existing extensive record of fighting against the Oni, we don’t have the same need to know what you are going to do with knowing how to use your core. We would only need all Masters assigned to the division you’d be working out of to sign off on bypassing the requirement but I don’t foresee that being an issue as they are all aware of you from the assignment a few months ago.” Spartacus paused, his eyes briefly dropping to the spread of paperwork. “We’re hurting for Devas right now but we can’t lower requirements just to bolster numbers.”

Agron was aware that both the Devas and User Enforcement Agency were short-staffed with not enough people even applying, let alone passing all requirements to balance out their side of the equation against the Oni.

“Other options? What about me just coming on as a consultant, like Talyn?” Agron had to make sure he knew he had a choice.

“Keep in mind that Talyn’s position is unique, allowed by the permission of a Prominent and backed by a contract he, Oenomaus, and I signed when he joined. You could, of course, come on as a consultant, but there would be nothing that kept you from working assignments from other Masters. And Talyn isn’t allowed to work any assignment without the involvement of an approved Deva.”

Agron frowned at the wording. “Meaning?”

“I am the only one he is automatically cleared to work with. However, if there is an agreement between me, him, and another Deva working at the division I oversee, they can be added as Devas he is approved to work assignments with.”

Nasir stood and angled so he was facing more towards Agron though still in view of Spartacus so he could see his signs as well, leaning his hip against the edge of the desk.

_Gannicus is the only Deva that I have gone through the process of authorization. I’ve also been given permission to work freely with Crixus and Naevia but don’t need the same process since they’re U.E.A._

Spartacus nodded agreement before continuing. “The authorization to work with Gannicus had only just been submitted when the assignment with the Oni you were brought in on began and so Nasir was committed to working with me when Gannicus was given other assignments so they haven’t actually worked just the two of them yet.”

Tuning out the extra details that didn’t really make a difference to anything, Agron took away what he needed. “But it’s only Devas that he’s allowed to add, not consultants.”

“Correct. Oenomaus and I both thought that would be safest for him and he agreed enough to sign the contract without asking for any modifications.”

Agron looked over to Nasir to check if that was the case and not just a matter of him either thinking he hadn’t had the right to ask or he hadn’t wanted to cause any trouble for people he likely thought he owed for even allowing him to work with the Devas. Not that it really helped as Nasir’s expression was flat, not giving anything away. Agron should have expected that since Nasir was usually closed off when he was at the Deva facility. It was just easier for him.

“Any chance of changing the contract?” Agron couldn’t help but ask.

“Not right now. Nasir asked for there to be no changes made to the contract until I became eligible for vote of Prominent. And I’m still six years from that.”

Agron looked back to Nasir and asked, “You were so sure you’d be fine working under the contract for that long?” Spartacus must have just barely advanced to Master when they’d made the contract.

Nasir gave a brief shrug.

_I didn’t have anything or anyone else. I don’t regret my choice now and still see no reason to alter the contract._

Agron was a little surprised with himself that he didn’t take that personally, that him being with Nasir now didn’t mean the other man suddenly thought every decision he’d made before Agron came along needed to be changed. Though, to be fair, Agron didn’t need to apply to the Devas at all. He was choosing to do that as part of his way of being close to Nasir. He did have other options. He’d just thought this would be the best one.

Hearing Spartacus out, he realized he still thought that.

And since his main objection was moot, he really didn’t feel any more need to object.

“Know how long it’ll take for it to all go through?” he asked.

Spartacus gave him a smile, seeming relieved. “A few days to make the rounds to all the Masters here then you’ll be clear to be active. And considering your record with the P.P.O., I’m going to include permission for you to be taken on as an Adept. You’d meet all the requirements for the rank and I see no reason to limit options for assignments you can be given.”

“Think there’ll be any issues with that going through?”

“No, I don’t see any reasons for them to object, especially with how well things went with the mission you assisted us with. If it looks like I’ll get any pushback, I’ll simply put the request straight to Oenomaus and he’ll approve it considering the connection it has to Talyn.”

Agron looked toward Nasir and said in a low tone, “That guy really has a soft spot for you, doesn’t he? Should I be worried?”

Nasir actually rolled his eyes at Agron at that.

_No, you shouldn’t. And if there’s ever a reason for you to actually meet Oenomaus, you won’t ask him that yourself either. He’s done a lot more than anyone needed to for me and you should be as grateful as I am since it means we actually met._

Agron looked back to Spartacus to catch the hint of an amused smile before the man managed to cover it.

“I’m trying to keep from relying on Oenomaus for anything more, especially as he helped cover some details of what happened three months ago against the Oni. I feel as though much more would be abusing our connection even though nothing has been to anyone’s detriment.”

Agron nodded his understanding, especially since he completely agreed. Hell, one of those details Oenomaus had helped to cover was Duro surviving his core being destroyed and so avoiding the fallout from that news getting around. If he only became the pet project of some scientist or research team, that would be best case scenario. Not an encouraging thought.

“That’s all I have for you right now, then,” Spartacus declared, but then Nasir knocked on the desk once and gave the man a pointed look and he caught himself. “Oh, right, except Sura wants you and Duro to come over tonight for dinner. She wants to welcome you to town as well as just see you guys again.” He hesitated before adding with a kind smile. “Expect it to happen a lot. You know she liked having you guys around. And Roma can always use the extra exercise.”

Agron took his turn to roll his eyes. “I swear that dog likes everyone more than she likes you.”

It was something of a running joke that Spartacus’ dog really shouldn’t belong to him with how many people Roma seemed to like more than her actual owner.

Spartacus gave Agron a flat look, as was usual, before he pointedly turned his attention back to his computer. “Yeah, well, I’ve got work to do and Talyn needs to see you out before he gets back to helping me. See you tonight and I’ll leave Roma all nice and without a walk for you to deal with.”

Nasir breathed out a laugh before signing.

_I’ll walk her since it might actually be dangerous to not walk her before you guys come over._

“I wish he was joking,” Spartacus muttered. “She can get past the puppy energy anytime now.”

Nasir straightened up and stepped between the chairs to head towards the door. Agron was about to follow when he remembered what else he was going to talk to Spartacus about. He looked toward Nasir and nodded toward the door, asking him to give them a minute. Nasir gave him a look like he didn’t want Agron to have this conversation right now, but he still turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Agron looked back to his friend and met Spartacus’ gaze, the man having returned his attention to Agron when he didn’t leave.

“About Duro…” Agron began, hesitating to even get started on this conversation.

Spartacus gave him a few seconds to continue and then spoke when he decided that Agron wasn’t going to without some prodding. “He’s doing alright? Getting settled in fine?”

“Yeah, he’s fine. Made all the difference in this being a smooth move so I could be here while looking for a place and my affinities with Nasir and you started to get settled. But he’s asking about the task force for Hajime. He wants to be involved still, no matter what happened.”

Agron could see Spartacus carefully considering what he could say in response. “And you think he shouldn’t be? His experience is comparable to yours.”

“His experience as a Valkyrie compares but he isn’t a Valkyrie anymore.”

“But his disposition having been a Valkyrie is exactly what makes it so he can still be a qualified fighter without any additional training. If we were to test him on any level of hand-to-hand or armed combat he had skill with before, he would pass them all.”

“Alright, I get it, he still knows how to fight. But the way he knows how to fight is as a user with a disposition that enhanced his strength, reflexes, stamina, and senses. And, sure, you’ve got those too, but not all the time like we do. Duro will need to train himself out of some serious habits of how he fights or he’s going to fuck up and throw himself into something he could handle as a Valkyrie but can’t now as just another person. And Duro hasn’t done shit towards that end once.”

Spartacus thought over what he’d said. “I understand your hesitation, Agron. I really do and I don’t want to see Duro getting any more hurt than he already has been. But I also don’t believe that trying to block Duro from being involved is the right approach to take. What is there to actually keep him away if he wants to be involved?”

“He’d have to listen if a Deva Master told him to stay out of it, just like anybody else.”

Spartacus’ expression went flat, closing off how much emotion he revealed and Agron figured he was toeing a line. “You want me to just order him to stay out of it, to remain uninvolved in the task force against Hajime where he could truly be of some benefit? You do realize that his greatest struggle at the moment is finding somewhere he can be useful, don’t you?”

“I’m all for him finding something he can be useful with. But this is approaching suicidal with how he’s doing right now.”

“Then we give him the opportunity to grow. If he’s part of the task force, he can have a reason to commit to retraining himself so that your concerns are invalidated. And isn’t that ultimately a better way of handling it than avoidance?”

“Spartacus…”

The Deva Master didn’t give him the chance to try and argue further. “I’ve been in contact with Derek and Stiles over the past three months and I have discussed this with them multiple times. Duro is welcome to the task force and I will be in contact with him once we have you straightened out to schedule a training regiment with him. I’m sorry that you don’t agree, but he is an adult and you have no authority over this decision. I will welcome any help you want to offer regarding Duro’s progress but the only thing you are truly risking by fighting this is your relationship with him and I must ask if that is really worth ruining?”

There was no hesitation to Agron’s answer. “I’d rather have a destroyed relationship and him alive than have been his best bud in the world and him be dead.”

Spartacus paused for a few seconds before he let out a sigh and then a short laugh. “Yeah, I should have guessed as much. Never let it be said that you’re selfish when it comes to your brother.”

“Probably about as self-sacrificing as you when it comes to people I care about.” Agron gave the man a slight smirk, leaving it unsaid that he was included in that along with Duro and Nasir. They had a stable affinity to prove it, the connection between them so similar to how the one between Agron and Duro had been, like Spartacus really was his brother.

“Then just trust me on this, Agron. I don’t want him to get hurt or killed either and I will do everything I can to see he receives the training he needs for that to not be as great of a risk. But I’m also not going to try and hold him back. He is a trained and experienced former Valkyrie. He’ll succeed here if we just give him the chance.”

Agron let out a heavy sigh and ran his hands over his face and through his hair. “Don’t you fucking make me regret not fighting harder on this. I already lost my affinity with him and that’s enough to tell me I can’t lose him.”

“All I can promise is that I’ll do whatever I can to help him be ready for anything that he ends up facing. We’ve both seen too much of what we’re up against for me to promise anything more and have you accept it.”

Spartacus knew Agron wasn’t an optimist so he’d really said the most Agron would accept on the subject. He knew full well that nothing was guaranteed against the Oni, especially not against the Oni that was bringing them together against the Devas and User Enforcement Agency, likely the Protection of the Paladins Organization as well. If Hajime really wanted to gain ground against them, he’d need to go after all three with how they supported each other even being separate organizations. Somehow, even after so many years of operation, there was no bad blood or competition between them. They just all did their jobs and it kept them on the same page well enough to coexist.

“We’ll be alright, Agron,” Spartacus eventually said and Agron let out a dismissive huff as he turned to leave. “See you tonight?”

“Yeah, see ya tonight,” Agron confirmed as he opened the door, stepped outside, and closed it behind him. Nasir was a few doors down and Agron was about to call out to him when he heard a familiar voice and headed down to stand behind Nasir.

“Agron! We were just talking about you behind your back!” Gannicus announced once he saw him and Agron glanced over to Nasir, who gave a slight shake of his head.

“Aren’t you supposed to not tell people when you’re doing that?” Agron asked. He hadn’t seen Gannicus since about two weeks after the fight with the Oni at the gym when they’d been finalizing their reports.

Gannicus waved him off. “Only if you want to be rude about it. So, we welcoming you into the fold here?”

“Looks that way.”

“Perfect. You can work on getting Spartacus to relax a bit. Oh, and make sure you pull Talyn off into secluded corners for some serious making out so he loses the bitch face he throws at everyone.”

Agron really had to fight off showing amusement at that, simply because he caught the flush that spread across Nasir’s cheeks and he didn’t want to encourage Gannicus to continue on that vein.

“I’m pretty sure both Spartacus’ strict attitude and Talyn’s more sour expression are just for you. You’ve got a talent for making people irritated at you.”

Gannicus gave an overly dramatic gasp. “How dare you! I’m a fucking delight.”

Agron looked over to Nasir and asked, “How did he convince you to come over and willfully have to tolerate him? What, does he have some sort of blackmail material over you?”

Nasir pointedly crossed his arms and Agron wondered if he was actually onto something with that. It couldn’t be anything too bad if they had cleared Nasir to work with Gannicus and they obviously trusted him.

“Don’t insult me with something as mediocre as blackmail. I need only to draw him in with my magnanimous personality.”

Agron frowned. “I’m pretty sure you’re using that word wrong.” Agron shot another questioning look toward Nasir, checking in since he wasn’t exactly “book smart”. He just thought it sounded off. Or he just wasn’t going to trust Gannicus throwing around some word he would have expected from Spartacus or Naevia. But Nasir didn’t give him any sort of indication one way or another.

“Eh, maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. Heard it the other day and thought it sounded cool. I’ll leave it to others to worry about looking it up. But by then, I’m gone.”

Nasir uncrossed his arms and started signing, Agron nearly missing what it was from his angle mostly behind Nasir, only catching what he did because of their height difference.

Knowing Gannicus didn’t understand sign language, Agron considered not translating, especially since Gannicus gave him an expectant look and Nasir didn’t seem to really mind one way or another.

Just about the time Gannicus looked like he was giving up on knowing what Nasir said, Agron let him know. “He said you used it correctly in the sentence, just incorrectly with you being the subject.”

Gannicus just laughed and Agron shook his head, also amused even as he wondered just what it took to get to this guy.

“What were you guys talking about anyway?” Agron asked, especially curious as it had to be pretty one-sided with Nasir alone so he would only have been listening and using his nonverbals to be part of any conversation.

“I was telling him how I had a few days without assignments and so I was using the time to look over some of the reports that are filed under Derek’s little task force.”

“Yeah, I’ve glanced through them. And there’s only been two files added since we got access,” Agron commented.

“Oh, I was looking through the older shit, the ones that got the Master over there to approve the task force being organized and made all official. Now, I was talking to Spartacus a little after the fight at the gym and he told me that Derek had mentioned that they’d only managed to track Hajime down to one report over in Japan. You remember that?”

Agron thought back over all those conversations that had happened three months ago in a short amount of time, picking through the details as best he could. “Yeah, and they only matched it up because they were able to get Hajime’s name. There wasn’t enough to that report to point them in any direction.” Agron had seen that U.E.A. report and how bare bones it was. Just a kid who had been attacked in Japan by Hajime and the Oni leaving when agents showed up in response to the fight being called in to emergency services.

“Right. Well, I was wondering why there wasn’t that much to the report or why there hasn’t been anything else connected since.”

Agron frowned in thought, Nasir looking over his shoulder toward him. “I didn’t really read through that one,” he admitted. “I was going to go through them again once we got settled here and could focus on it.”

“Well, here’s the cliff note version until then: it’s not a matter of information being redacted by anyone. The information simply wasn’t included. Hajime’s name is there as the Oni suspect but the names of who he attacked was never included, the report claiming a respect of confidentiality to minors as the reason. And the detailing of events is a paragraph. Oh, and the agents who submitted the report didn’t submit it under their names, but the department they work for. And I talked to Naevia about it. She had to look it up in the regs to know for sure. Apparently, as long as the division code is listed, it’s actually allowed for agents to submit a report under their department and not attach any names to the report. They just have to get approval from their higher ups for it to be accepted as an official report. And the fact that we have the report proves they got all the right people to okay it.”

Agron looked over to Nasir, exchanging a thoughtful expression between them before Nasir shrugged slightly. They’d probably both be reading over that report later.

“You think the agents making the report were trying to distance themselves from the report or hide something?”

Nasir signed his answer just as Gannicus started speaking and the latter paused once he saw Nasir’s hands moving.

_Both. It feels like an intentional avoidance._

Gannicus gave Nasir a flat look when he didn’t get a translation as Agron was just getting lost in thought before he spoke. “I think they were trying to stay under the radar. Maybe just giving us a record of an Oni named Hajime Midori while keeping everything else under wraps.”

“You think they’re someone to be suspicious of?”

There had never been a case of an Oni successfully becoming a Deva or U.E.A. agent to work behind the scenes or set them up but there was a first time for everything.

“Maybe not suspicious of, but at the very least aware of. And it’d be a start to get their name. With their names, we could really know for sure that their best interests are with our side and not Hajime’s.”

“If they aren’t on our side, then they’ve had upwards of three years to be setting something up.”

Gannicus gave Agron a grin but it wasn’t as jovial as they usually were. “Then let’s just really hope the guy is shy. Hey, if he is, we can send in Talyn and they can bond over being awkward.”

Nasir gave Gannicus a cold look and the man was back to laughing like usual.

Agron was going to get whiplash dealing with this guy.

“So, take a look at it and let me know what you think. I know Spartacus is good at this sort of thing but he’s also got his own responsibilities. And why should we let those guys in California get all the attention for adding reports to the list? Let’s show them we’re worth being involved.”

Agron nodded, actually liking the idea of having something to look forward to. He was like Duro that way: he worked best when he had something to point him in the right direction.


	3. Commonality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agron and Nasir try to find direction against Hajime...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for no update last week. I was housesitting at a place where I didn't have the wifi password. But home and back on schedule now ^_^

Dinner with Spartacus and Sura that night ended up being a lot more relaxing than Agron had expected it to be. He actually managed to dismiss that he was on eggshells with Duro at the moment even as he was sitting across the table from him. But both spouses just gave off that vibe of relaxed that Agron picked up on and it was helped even further by Nasir sitting next to him pretty much the entire evening, before, during, and after eating.

Mostly it was just being able to sit down and talk about nothing really detrimental to anything for a few hours and not feel like he was being irresponsible. That had gotten to be quite the rarity before he’d met Spartacus.

Agron hadn’t realized it had been starting to wear him down until he was getting ready to move and noticed the difference.

They’d finished cleaning up dinner, Agron and Duro taking over that before Sura could, and Duro and Sura had stayed in the kitchen talking about how things were going at the university she worked at while Agron had sat on one of the couches in the living room and Nasir had taken a spot between his legs on the floor, angled so his back was leaning mostly against Agron’s leg and facing towards the other couch that Spartacus was sitting on. And as soon as Roma had realized Nasir was on the floor, the dog had trotted over and laid down with her back pressed along his legs and had fallen asleep soon after.

Nasir and Spartacus had switched completely to sign language a few minutes after getting settled, the two able to sign much faster than Agron or Sura even though Agron was proud of himself for mostly being able to keep up. But he’d sort of stopped paying attention a while ago as he’d started twisting Nasir’s hair between his fingers. It had been all up in a ponytail, Nasir having just left it up after leaving the Deva facility, but he’d pulled the hair tie out a few minutes after he figured out Agron wasn’t going to stop. He’d then tied half of it back up to keep it out of his face but that still left plenty for Agron to mess around with.

He’d gotten used to just letting the other two communicate on their own that he was surprised with Nasir moved to stand, the man giving his thigh a quick squeeze once he was upright and then walked toward the kitchen, leaving Spartacus and Agron alone.

Roma had watched Nasir go but seemed content with knowing that he wasn’t leaving and merely shifted her position so she was laying on Agron’s foot instead of following Nasir.

Spartacus seemed to realize his confusion and gave Agron an amused smile. “You really weren’t paying attention, were you?” he asked, Agron figured rhetorically.

“Just because I can understand doesn’t automatically mean what you guys talk about is my business,” Agron muttered in reply anyway. “Besides, I can’t completely keep up with you two when you get going like that.”

“It wasn’t anything private, Agron,” Spartacus said. “If it was supposed to be, we wouldn’t have been discussing it in front of anyone.” Spartacus seemed to hesitate before continuing. “Considering the relationship and affinity between the two of you, don’t you think you should be included in personal matters?”

Agron shrugged. “If he wants me to be included, I’ll be included. Having an affinity isn’t an automatic pass into every little detail of someone’s life. It just means you love each other. And considering this is Nasir we’re talking about, I don’t want to assume shit or I’ll really fuck it all up.”

“Aside from needing to give Nasir a bit more credit than that, I think you should give yourself more credit as well. If affinities were so volatile as to disintegrate at the first sign of a disagreement, they’d never survive the first month.”

“I didn’t mean that. And affinities aren’t the relationship. What I meant is that Nasir never let himself get close enough to anyone before you and he’s only now able to have affinities even with being a user all his life. Affinities aren’t exactly easy to get used to and he’s having to fight like fifteen years of keeping to himself to keep safe. That isn’t going to go away overnight. So, I’m just letting him figure out the space he needs and trying to give it to him so we can move forward.”

“At what point would you think you are being too cautious?”

Agron had to admit that he would have never thought he’d be accused of being cautious. That just wasn’t him.

Except he couldn’t exactly disregard the accusation as not applying to him.

He simply shrugged dismissively as he relaxed back against the couch. “I guess when he tells me to get my shit together.”

“Is this why you didn’t ask him to move in with you when you found the house?”

“Hardly. It’s way too early for us to start living together. We’ve barely known each other for four months, and it’s been even shorter since we had our affinity form. You don’t just dive into something like living together. It’s like you don’t remember everything you told me about you asking him to live with you.”

Spartacus didn’t look so amused anymore and while Agron knew this was far from the same situation, he hadn’t expected the shift in his friend’s demeanor to be so abrupt. “That is far from the same thing, Agron. He was living on the streets and hadn’t had anyone he could trust for most of his life when I met him and was trying to convince him to live with me. I knew very little about him, just that I felt like I needed to help him into a better situation. And I believe that he wouldn’t have lasted much longer where he was. And I don’t mean Oni looking to hurt him would have located him but rather that he simply was very unhealthy when I met him.”

“I didn’t think it was that bad,” Agron said, thinking over everything he’d been told by both Spartacus and Nasir himself.

“It may not have been. He’s overly dismissive of his own health and I’m overprotective of him. Between the two factors, my observations may have been biased.”

Agron couldn’t decide if it would have been as inappropriate as it seemed if he laughed at that. If nothing else, him laughing at someone calling themselves “overprotective” would definitely be hypocritical at the very least.

Instead, Agron remained serious. “Can I ask you something?” Spartacus nodded. “If I asked him to move in and it really was too early for us to do something like that, do you think he would say anything? Do you think he’d really notice?” Spartacus looked like he was going to say something in Nasir’s defense so Agron powered through to make sure he was understood correctly. “You said it yourself: he doesn’t pay attention to himself. Sure, he’s stubborn as fuck and will stand up for what he believes in, but how often do you see him just do something for himself?”

Spartacus paused before answering, thinking it over. “Getting the adjustment to his tattoo so he could actually form affinities while still sealed would be the closest I’ve probably ever seen him do something just because he wanted to.”

“Which we also benefit from so that could be a tossup of how much that could be called ‘just for himself’. From what I can tell, he’s either just gone along for the ride or ignored what he might want for his whole life. It’s always been about being a Phoenix, never what he could do as just Nasir. Hell, he can’t even just be ‘Nasir’ most of the time. If I ask him to move in with me, I can’t have the reason he says yes to be anything but completely because he wants to.”

“Do you want him to?”

“Watching him walk out the door of where I live or walking out of here and him staying behind because it’s where he lives is just about the hardest thing I’ve had to deal with lately aside from everything with Duro.” Agron sat forward so he could lower his voice a little. They’d been talking quietly and their voices were covered reasonably well by the excited conversation between Duro and Sura in the kitchen but Agron had wanted as much chance of not being overheard as possible. “Most Paladins and Valkyries don’t do well separated from people they have an affinity with, especially in the first year. Add in the damage still there from my destroyed affinity with Duro and that I’ve never been in a relationship like the one I’ve got with Nasir and I’m not in a good place to just blindly trust my decisions regarding him.”

Spartacus was observing him closely with that look he had that always made Agron feel like the man could see everything about him and somehow make him see it too. Spartacus was a good person who tended to see the best in people, and then he wanted them to see the best in themselves. And there were times that Agron wondered how the man could be like that and not be or even seem naïve.

Eventually, Spartacus gave a slight shrug as he leaned back. “I’m not saying I don’t disagree with you when taking all that into consideration. However, I will simply point out that affinities can’t be approached with only logic. They exist because of emotion for a reason.”

Agron paused for a minute and then gave an accepting nod. He got where Spartacus was coming from, what he was trying to tell him. He also appreciated that it was obvious that Spartacus was going to let the conversation be finished there. There was only so much of people telling him how his personal life should be going that he could take.

“So, I talked to Gannicus today,” he said by way of changing the subject.

Spartacus gave him a smile and mused, “Subtle.” Agron gave a shrug as he grinned. “He’s been going through the reports in the task force, right?”

Agron wasn’t surprised Spartacus was aware. It was only right that a good leader knew what the people working under him were spending their time doing. And Spartacus consistently proved himself to be someone who paid attention.

“Yeah. He was saying he thinks there’s more to the reports, maybe something that can get us moving towards Hajime if we find the right rocks to look under. He wants to find the names of the agents that submitted the report to start.”

Spartacus frowned in thought. “I’ve looked over the report. The agent wasn’t breaking any regulations in what he submitted."

“Withholding information doesn’t break regs? Since when? And these are agents, not Devas. At least with the Devas, you’ve got the Prominents that can tell you to keep something under wraps.”

“There are regulations for the U.E.A. which are designed to act as protection against Oni gaining access to agency information, such as dispositions of civilians. The Devas have our own safeguards but the U.E.A. operates with too much variety to be able to work the same.”

Agron rolled his eyes and growled out, “I swear these organizations we work for somehow manage to be as stuck in the time they were established as they are current and relevant."

Spartacus gave him a thoughtful look before he said somewhat dismissively, “They knew where to look for the details that would matter for a long time.” Agron gave a frown of curiosity but dismissed it as Spartacus continued. “Most agents aren’t even aware of the regs we’re talking about. This isn’t their standard, acceptable as it is. Whoever wrote the report is obviously as familiar with how the agency works as they are likely good at their job. Because I’ve seen some attempt to use these regs but the report has been kicked back to them for not doing it right. This report was submitted and accepted within hours of the incident. They did it right the first time.”

“But we can’t figure out for sure how good they are because we don’t have their name.”

“We have their department and the division they work in. If we find something in the report that we can claim needs elaboration for the sake of an open investigation, we’ll be allowed access to the identities of the agents. That’s what you and Gannicus need to focus on finding with the report. Because this is in connection to the Hajime task force, we can claim that as the open investigation.”

“Can’t we just say we’re trying to find the Oni the report is about and have that be enough connection to an open case?”

“We could try but they would be allowed to refuse contact. If we had a hot trail for Hajime, it would be different.”

“There’s irony for you. We need to talk to these agents to heat up the trail but we need a hot trail to talk to them.”

“There isn’t much red tape to deal with when it comes to the organizations established to counter the Oni threat but what does exist is formidable to come up against. We’ve unfortunately found some of that red tape.”

“Any suggestions from someone whose been doing this longer than me? And is probably better at it anyway.”

Spartacus gave a short chuckle before replying. “Your experiences against Oni are different that a Devas. You may be able to see something Gannicus or I couldn’t. Make sure Nasir helps you out. As far as I know, he hasn’t had the chance to look through any of the compiled reports. Maybe there will be something there for you to find that we couldn’t, maybe there won’t be. If there isn’t, we move forward and we will come across more Oni that are in alliance with Hajime.”

“I feel like I should repeat: not my strong suit.”

Spartacus was unsympathetic. “Then improve.”

* * *

Two days later, Agron was half-convinced that Spartacus was somehow sabotaging the reports he was looking through just to prove that he needed to improve this side of the job.

After all, when he was taking assignments from the P.P.O., this sort of investigation was usually done with by the time a Paladin or Valkyrie got involved.

Agron had always been better about picking details up in the moment and in person. The Devas and the U.E.A. agents were the investigators. The P.P.O. was the muscle that could be tagged in when needed.

Agron growled out a low “fuck the gods” when it really occurred to him that as of that morning, he was officially a Deva and so he had no excuse but to improve like Spartacus had told him.

Hence the suspicion born of frustration that Spartacus was somehow fucking with him with his benefit in mind.

Nasir had already acknowledged his irritated mood and was letting him stew for now. He was focusing entirely on reading through the reports, familiarizing himself with what had been gathered concerning Hajime Midori.

Agron was currently taking a break from reading and looking through the photos attached to the report of when Stiles had been freed from being held captive in some shitty apartment by Oni working for Hajime for over a year.

It was the only report gathered that had information redacted. That didn't happen often in reports for these organizations, not when there wasn’t someone in protective custody involved. And as far as Agron could work out, that wasn’t the case. There were just a few paragraphs blocked out. And the order had come straight from one of the Prominents so it was cleared as high up the chain it could possibly go.

“You ever see redacted reports?” Agron found himself asking Nasir absently, leaning back in his chair so he could look next to him to see Nasir’s response.

Nasir gave a distracted shrug of one shoulder, obviously finishing up reading what he was before he looked over toward Agron.

_It happens. My involvement in an assignment has been redacted before._

“Ever see one on a report of a rescue mission?”

_Stiles is a Beholder and he wants to keep that a secret, even if Hajime already knows about his disposition. It’s likely the Prominents respecting that._

“And if it has nothing to do with that?”

Nasir’s gaze, which had been easing back toward his computer, snapped back toward Agron.

“I just mean it doesn’t seem like what was redacted had anything to do with Stiles. The report even states that he reported himself as a user but didn’t reveal his disposition. They just focused on declaring him to be under Deva protection but not going as far to place him in full protective custody since he implied that he wouldn’t accept it.”

_You believe Stiles himself is suspect?_

Agron wasn’t sure why Nasir had made that jump. “Not at all. I mean, yeah the guy is fucking weird, but he didn’t actually have to tell us that he’s a Beholder. He could have kept it to himself. Just like they didn’t have to actually stick around and help out and definitely didn’t have to call in some backup to help us take out that little gathering of Oni a few months back. That they did all that says a lot about them.”

_Agreed. So, what are you saying? Why bring up the redacted report?_

“We’re supposed to be looking for anything that might give us an edge in requesting the identity of the agent, right? Well, this was something that stuck out to me. Out of upwards of fifty reports, we’ve got two that have concealed information.”

_With nothing else in common. One is from the U.E.A., the other a Deva assignment. There’s about a year between the reports. One was a random attack in Japan, the other a rescue mission in California. One was an answer to an emergency call, the other assigned by a Prominent._

Once Agron was sure Nasir was finished, he looked to his computer screen, his eyes flitting back and forth between the two reports displayed on the screen. He frowned when he realized something he felt should have been more obvious. “But both directly involving Hajime.”

Nasir frowned as well, thoughtfully, and then he was looking back at his own computer, likely bringing up both reports as well.

“The U.E.A. report is from him attacking some minor in the street and the other is him being involved in holding Stiles.”

Nasir’s hands started moving and Agron barely caught the beginning of his message out of his peripherals before looking up enough to catch the rest. He really needed to get it more ingrained in his head that he needed to leave enough attention on Nasir to not miss what he signed.

_That’s interesting. Though it couldn’t be the same person concealing information, not when redacting a Deva report can only be done by a Prominent._

“No, I’m not thinking along those lines. And I don’t think I’m actually suspicious about that. I think that the Prominent who did the redacting is just being a Deva and protecting someone, just like the agent might actually be doing this to protect someone other than themselves.”

_You think it’s the same person?_

“Tough to say. A lot can happen in a year. I just wanna know if this is enough of a connection, having a direct link of Hajime’s personal touch in these two reports, is enough to get anything more. It’s all I got.”

_Maybe I’ve found something to add._

“Just maybe?” Agron stood from his chair and walked around the desk to stand behind Nasir, leaning down to look at the computer. He recognized the crime scene photos of the apartment Stiles had been saved from.

Nasir leaned back a bit in his chair so he was at a better angle for Agron to see his signs.

_You’ve read Derek’s notes on the report?_

Agron nodded. Derek had checked out the apartment after Stiles had been put in his protection and, using his enhanced sense of smell, had identified that there had been two Oni in the apartment by the scent of their core discharge. The first being the Projector who had been responsible for holding Stiles, the second was later determined to be Hajime. The other report to directly involve Hajime had been when Stiles, Derek, and others on the task force had used Stiles as bait shortly after.

_He said he only picked up the scent of two dispositions that he could guarantee were Oni. That can be confirmed to some extent by the report. And the report confirms that the Devas weren’t who took out the Projector but it was Stiles taking advantage of the distraction and hitting him over the head, the injury resulting in his death._

“Right,” Agron mused, not quite sure where Nasir was heading with this.

_All of that is in the report, available to anyone who has access to the file to read. I’m curious as to what’s left to go through the trouble of redacting. What else was there to happen when the fight and resolution is all there?_

Agron saw Nasir’s point. “What do you think?” he asked after a short pause, stepping to Nasir’s side and then leaning back against the edge of the desk next to the computer facing Nasir.

_I wish I could see the apartment. Crime scene photos aren’t enough, not for what we’re looking for. But I’ll settle for speaking with Derek._

“Derek? Shouldn’t it be Stiles since he was actually there?”

_Not to start. Maybe if I don’t get clarification from Derek._

“Talking to him could make him shut us out. He could tell Stiles not to talk to us once he knows what questions we’re asking.”

_I don’t think that he will. He asked us for our help with Hajime. We are helping him with Hajime. And having met Stiles, do you really think he’ll listen to Derek if we ask him something he wants to talk about?_

Agron quickly realized his mistake there and let out a short laugh as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, pulling up the contact info for Derek and then selecting to text him. “Good point.” He typed up a quick message asking when he and Nasir could do some sort of video chat with him without Stiles around, setting his phone on the desk beside him, just in case the other Deva got back to him quickly. After all, it would be late morning for those two right now.

Nasir slid his chair a little closer to Agron, leaning back so he was facing him more directly. He gave Agron a slight smile, Agron’s heart beating just a bit faster at the soft expression, caught up in the beauty of it.

_See, you’re not horrible about this part of the job._

Agron let out a short laugh, not having expected Nasir’s sudden shift to being unprofessional. He usually kept himself as expressionless as he could while in the Deva facility. Agron figured it was just easier for Nasir to get in one frame of mind and stick to it all the time, to only be “Talyn” while in the building and let as little of his own personality come through as possible.

Agron wondered if it was his fault for Nasir breaking that. Then he wondered if it was really a bad thing.

Sure, they were on their own in one of the conference rooms with the privacy measures activated on the room so they wouldn’t be interrupted but Agron had seen Nasir spend entire days only around Spartacus and him and his flat expression held the whole time.

“Oh, don’t go expecting this shit from me. It’s still more Duro’s thing. Or yours. Because I learned a long time ago that you don’t need to be the smart one in the room as long as you know who that is and are good friends.” He gave it a second before adding, “Come on, that deserved an eye roll at the very least.”

Nasir breathed out a laugh as he shook his head slightly and moved back in towards his computer. Agron leaned forward, cupping his hand to the back of Nasir’s head since he couldn’t comb his fingers through dark hair like he preferred to with it all tied back and pressed a quick kiss to the top of Nasir’s head as he stood, reaching back for his phone.

The screen was lit up and the screen displayed a response from Derek, Agron realizing that he’d forgotten that he’d muted the phone when he’d started working in a last-ditch effort to make sure he stayed focused. He unlocked the phone and displayed the message as he walked back to his computer.

“Derek says he can call us in about an hour. He’s just got to get everyone going for the day and distract Stiles.”

Nasir looked up to him with a raise of his eyebrow before deciding to sign.

_That was easy._

“You say that like you don’t get anyone wanting to arrange getting some space from Stilinski,” Agron replied with a smirk.

Sure, he’d gotten used to Stiles’…somewhat extreme personality by the time they’d finished up the assignment that introduced them all to each other, but that didn’t mean the younger man was actually easy for Agron and, he assumed, others to deal with. He talked way more than anyone else Agron knew and only about half of what he said seemed relevant to anyone or anything. It wasn’t a question of his intelligence either as he’d proven to be damn smart. He was just a lot more…well, just more than Agron was used to and that made it tough for him to know how to deal with the guy.

_Just don’t open with that. Derek has an affinity with him for a reason._

Agron grinned as he replied, “Not even I’m that bad at talking to people. And the last thing I want is getting on a born wolf Shifter’s bad side, especially when he’s in charge of a Deva division.”

Agron sent a quick text to Spartacus, letting him know that they’d be talking to Derek soon so he didn’t expect them to finish up in the room as quickly as they’d been planning. And the small office they’d been working in was set up for video calls so they’d be fine just staying in there longer.

And the two spent the next hour just talking, Agron switching over to sign language so he could keep up practicing himself, especially since he’d been slacking off the past few days as he’d sort of started using moving as an excuse to himself for his hands being busy to not be signing. He needed to make sure he kept on himself about keeping up with his own signing, improving his fluency, especially since Nasir didn’t have the option to just not sign. Just because he’d gotten to the point of understanding what was signed a majority of the time didn’t mean he should just settle for that. After all, it had only been a few days ago that he’d not been able to keep up with Spartacus and Nasir getting into a deep conversation completely in sign language, getting lost simply because they were going too fast for him.

And Nasir had seemed happy that he’d started signing and he always aimed to see Nasir any measure of happy.

He got another text from Derek and they used his computer to use the secure video calling network the Devas used to call the number Derek had sent them. He answered the call almost immediately and it looked like the Shifter had found a secluded room of his own to talk to them in.

He looked the same as he had a few months ago, serious and intimidating. Agron figured that Derek Hale was someone who could give him a challenge, even as a Paladin. Not only were Derek’s senses much more enhanced than Agron’s, but he’d obviously trained extensively to hone those senses to be as useful to him as they could be in addition to having taken plenty of combat training that showed in how precise his movements were. But Agron had also seen how despite how matched they would be in a fight, Derek likely had him beat in kindness. He was just simply more naturally capable of feeling for people than Agron ever was, more matched to Spartacus in that regard even if he seemed to conceal that part of himself better than Spartacus did, and it was an interesting combination for Agron to see in Devas of differing ranks who both were responsible for Deva divisions.

“Agron, Talyn, nice to see you again,” Derek began, likely playing it safe by using Nasir’s pseudonym and proving his own intelligence in Agron’s opinion.

Nasir gave a brief nod of greeting as Agron replied, “Hey, sorry for the short notice.”

“It’s not a problem. We’re going on a few easy days in a row and it’s nice to have something break up the paperwork,” Derek finished with a twitch of a smile Agron might have missed if he’d forgotten that Derek was so reserved in his facial expressions while working. “What did you want to talk about?”

“We’ve been looking over the reports available concerning Hajime and we’re trying to get a lead,” Agron opened vaguely, seeing if Derek gave him anything without him directing him.

“There isn’t much, is there?” Derek replied with a one-sided shrug. “Welcome to our year.”

Agron gave a grin at that. He did admit that it was easy to forget that Derek and Stiles had been dealing with this lack of direction with finding Hajime for a lot longer than they had.

“We were hoping to get enough to maybe convince someone to give us the identity of the agent who submitted the first report naming Hajime. Spartacus said we need to have a strong enough lead to get around U.E.A. rules about this sort of thing.”

Derek frowned and Agron wondered if they’d actually started off with something he hadn’t thought of. “Did you find something?”

“Maybe. We wanted to ask you about the report about Stiles being freed from Oni. It’s the only other report with information withheld, even if it’s a bit different in how it was outright redacted.”

“The report was submitted by a Deva that doesn’t work for my division and isn’t part of the task force. Everything I know about what happened is second hand.”

Nasir’s hands moved to start signing before he seemed to catch himself and then he opened up the messaging window in the video chat program and typed out what he was going to sign.

**Except for what you added from searching the apartment.**

**Isn’t that how you worked out Stiles’ disposition?**

Agron remembered after a second that just like they all were playing it safe calling Nasir “Talyn”, they needed to do the same and not mention Stiles was a Beholder since that wasn’t officially known by anyone.

Derek’s frown was getting a bit more intense though it was tough to say why. “Based on what I saw in the apartment, I was suspicious of what his disposition was, yes. But his disposition isn’t what was redacted.”

“We didn’t think so. Honestly, we’re a little lost in what could have been cut out of the report based on what was still there. There isn’t a gap in events as far as we can tell. So, what’s there to be cut out?”

Nasir was moving to type more and Agron was happy to let him take the lead.

**You determined that Hajime had been there because you had picked up the scent of his core being used recently.**

**I was wondering if there was any way you could have missed the scent of another Oni there.**

**Is there any core that doesn’t put off a scent?**

Agron glanced over to Nasir, trying to figure out when that had crossed Nasir’s mind, and then caught himself and looked back to the screen to not make it seem like they hadn’t talked everything over before calling Derek.

Derek appeared deep in thought either way. “There are some dispositions where the scent is harder to pick out, that blend into natural scents of certain environments better than others. And there are one or two that the scent seems to dissipate a little faster. But, no, there isn’t any disposition that puts out no scent at all. But I wasn’t there too long after Stiles had been freed.”

**What dispositions blend and dissipate faster?**

Nasir wasn’t allowing Derek any leeway.

Derek let out a low growl, something not uncommon with born Shifters to do.

“The more malleable dispositions, the ones that aren’t very focused in their abilities. Glyphs, Espers, and Ouroboros come to mind.” Out of those, only Glyphs weren’t really rare. “Also, some dispositions that only cause minor internal changes in the user are harder to pick up, like Clairvoyants. The discharge ends up being so minimal that there’s barely anything to pick up on even when I’m in the room with them activating it.” Derek let out a sigh as he reached up and ran his hand through his hair quickly before continuing. “I also haven’t scented every disposition there is. If there was a scent in there that was of a disposition I’ve never had specified, I wouldn’t have been able to identify it as being core discharge.”

“If you came across the scent again, would you remember that you smelled it in that apartment?” Agron felt like he had to ask. He needed to know the limitations he might be restricted by.

Derek gave a slight shrug as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “I’d likely only be able to know that I’ve smelled that particular scent before. I can’t guarantee that I would be able to know where I smelled it from though.”

“Fair enough,” Agron responded with a slight shrug. “Probably better than I’d manage,” he added in a low voice, forgetting that he was talking to someone who had better senses than him.

And Derek looked amused. “You’re lucky Stiles isn’t here or he’d launch into a lecture about how strong the sense of smell is connected to memory.”

“Been on the receiving end of that one a few times?” Agron replied with a wide grin and even caught a brief smile from Derek before he regained his composure. Agron leaned closer to Nasir and this time knew he still wouldn’t be quiet enough to not be heard by the Shifter. “Which of you gave the other pointers on the lack of expression thing?”

Agron was completely joking, of course. He’d seen how Derek and Nasir were similar in that they kept things subtle except for when they were around certain people. They expressed plenty to those who knew how to pick it out. But it made for an easy tease regardless.

Nasir elbowed him in the side for asking though.

“Was there anything else you wanted to ask?” Derek got them back on track. “I know I haven’t been able to give you anything that will be enough to get the agent’s identity.”

“The Deva who wrote up the report is a lower rank than you. Can’t you just make him tell you what was redacted?”

“There’s plenty of reasons that’s not an option but I’ll settle with the fact that the one who made the redaction outranks me so I’d have to get permission from a Prominent. Unfortunately, I’m not close to any Prominents like you guys are.”

“Hey, don’t lump me in there. It’s just Spartacus, Nasir, and Gannicus that are close to a Prominent.”

Nasir was reaching forward to type in a message even as Agron was speaking.

**Can you identify which Prominent was responsible for the redaction?**

If Agron hadn’t seen Derek’s gaze shifting to read the message, he might have thought he hadn’t read it from the long pause that followed the question.

Agron spoke before Derek, asking, “How would he figure that out?”

Nasir signed instead of typing.

_He’s a Senior rank and that allows him more access. He’s also directly involved with the mission in question so he can see some information that wouldn’t be just given to others who access the file. We can see the report, but he has access to certain coding that a good enough Deva knows how to use. And he’s proven to be good enough._

Agron looked back to the screen where Derek was watching the exchange carefully. He knew Derek didn’t understand sign language but the intensity of the gaze still made him question if Derek still understood somehow.

When it was obvious Nasir was done signing, Derek let out a brief sigh. “What would you do with that? It’s not like they would meet with you just because you ask nicely. There are security measures they have to abide by. If you aren’t one of their contacts, you don’t get to know where they are at any given time.”

Each Deva Prominent chose a few close friends when they were given their position that were to be the only people who knew that particular Prominent’s location at any time. And they were the only ones who knew. It was one of the stranger security measures the Devas used in Agron’s opinion. The Prominents still made appearances when necessary but otherwise just didn’t come out of hiding for the entire duration of their time as Prominents. They weren’t public figures, instead acting like the bones that were at the center of everything even as they couldn’t function without the flesh that held it all together, a.k.a. the rest of the Devas. But them becoming visible only meant something was extremely wrong.

Agron knew they used to be a bit more relaxed about it but multiple attempts on their lives from Oni, one actually being successful about two decades ago, meant that security measures had changed and became more strict.

Agron had actually thought that Devas couldn’t be ones who knew a Prominent’s location but that couldn’t be the case if Spartacus knew. Unless he didn’t actually know where to find Oenomaus and just had a contact number for him. He was curious but it wasn’t something he would be allowed to ask.

If he’d thought about it just a few days ago before he was a Deva, he could have asked. Fucking rules and regs.

But still…

“Wouldn’t you say that we aren’t exactly in normal times right now? Exceptions are made in exceptional circumstances.” Agron gave a confident grin and Derek just raised an eyebrow at him.

“Hajime is a serious threat, yes. But I don’t think he’s done enough for the Prominents to consider changing the protocol they are operating under, which is what you’re talking about.”

“What would it take?” Agron asked, frustrated. It just felt like this was way more difficult than it needed to be.

“Couldn’t say. I’ve never tried to pry into the Prominents or their decisions.”

Nasir was obviously getting frustrated as well since when he next typed, he was practically stabbing at the keyboard.

**Guess.**

Derek’s demeanor didn’t falter, even as he had to be picking up on their emotions. “Proof that there’s a risk to someone involved in the report or to the agent by remaining anonymous would be a fair assumption.

“Remember, the Prominents aren’t just Devas, but they are who other Devas saw as representative of the organization. And a Deva’s most basic job is to protect people from the threat of Oni. Just imagine the one you need to convince is Spartacus. Out of any Deva right now, he’s most likely to be one of the next Prominents as soon as he’s eligible.”

“Right. Well, then I guess we’ve actually got nothing,” Agron said as he slumped back in his chair with a heavy sigh as he ran his hands through his hair roughly. “Thought we could have at least gotten off square fucking one with this.”

Agron had the thought that he was talking to someone who had been on Hajime’s trail for a while now and hadn’t made any progress and considered that regardless of his irritation, he really didn’t have much room to talk here.

Derek gave a slight shrug. “Don’t stop looking. New eyes on this is what we needed. Everyone on this end has seen them too many times to be the most effective. You think you have something again, you make the call.”

Agron was reminded that Derek _was_ in charge of a Deva division and at a lower rank than Spartacus so he had to have leadership capabilities.

Nasir glanced over to him before he reached forward again to start typing.

**We will.**

**Please let us know if you think of anything later that might be relevant to what we discussed.**

**Thank you for speaking to us today.**

Derek nodded and gave a short goodbye before he disconnected his end of the call.

Agron and Nasir sat in silence for a few moments before Agron slouched down even further in the chair and groaned out, “Now what?”

Nasir just gave a brief shrug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for reference for those who haven't read the other fandom fics in the series, the events referenced in the reports are from the Only the Ring Finger Knows focused fic Mark of the Ouroboros where Hajime attacked main character Wataru because he has an Ouroboros core. The other redacted report is referencing Gaze of the Reaper (Yuri!! on Ice focused) and the leadup to Eye of the Beholder (Teen Wolf), where events involving Yuuri's abilities led to Shion finding where Stiles was being held captive by Hajime and needed to call up one of the Prominents to get Devas closer to the location to help.


End file.
